Evening Historica
by Shiro Arceus
Summary: Rise, children of Historia.. Stop the seal of the true beast's foul deed. Bearer chosen by the Goddess Historica, rise fromk your slumber... A journey of the next bearer of the white chronicle, A sequel to my other fic 'Primrose'. Slight Stocke/Raynie.
1. 7 years

_Hellooo there! After such a long delay in making a sequel for Primrose here I am! And just in case you haven't realized; this fic is a sequel of my other fic, Primrose. So I suggest you to read that fic first before this, but if you decided not to, that's also fine, your choice._

_Anyways, special thanks to HarmonyBenderFreak for suggesting an idea for this fic! I've been searching for a good start for Primrose's journey and this idea was just great! Now, this took place seven years after Primrose. Our 9 year old lil' girl is now 16, and her father were almost killed the day he went out to Cygnus, shot in the head by an assasin. Sonja and the others managed to prevent the worst from happening, but now Stocke is in a deep, deep coma for seven long years. _

_One more thing, I'm not good at describing how outfits look like, so I drew and designed some of the character's outfit, its in my profile page._

_With that out of the way, enjoy reading! oh and if you are wondering... this is a reupload where I just corrected some mistakes, no plot are changed so relax!  
_

* * *

Sunrise always managed to wake her up without fail. Even when she overslept, it'd only be 5 minutes late, tops. Something she got from her parents, she guess. Her bed stood in the edge of the room, right beside the window. That way she could feel when the sun had rose from its slumber, taking its turn after the moon to bring light into the world. And today's no exception. The sun has come, waking her up. Though she always wanted to slept more, she never managed. Everytime she woke up, she couldn't find herself going back to the dream world again. She doesn't know why, maybe deep down she really do wanted to wake up early.

Bright green eyes opened slowly, scanning its surrounding as it tried to adjust with the light. The girl, who still laid on her bed, moved her long blonde hair away from her face, slightly cursing it for obscuring her view. The blonde pushed herself into a sitting position, groaning slightly and yawned. She rubbed the sleep off her eyes while staring out to the window. Sleepily, she threw the blanket aside from her, and put her feet flat on the flooring of her room. Shivering slightly from the sudden cold she felt. Still yawning, slender fingers pur her golden locks to her back, where it hung obediently all the way to her waist. She stood in front of her bathroom door, getting ready to change out of her black oversized t-shirt with also matching pants. Her eyes felt droppy by the time her hand reached the doorknob, almost closed, even, if she wasn't brought back to reality by the sound of her mother's voice, from outside the room. "Primrose!"

"I'm awake..." Primrose groaned loudly in unison with a sound of doorknob opening. "Be down in... 5." She continued as she proceed into the bethroom, mumbling 'maybe' at the end of her sentence.

Nothing like hot shower to wake her up in the morning. Her hair was hard to brush due to the fact it tangled easily, but eventually the blonde came out already dressed in her usual red garb. Her inner black tank top was almost covered in her outer red outfit with golden linings, her black pants only showed little for the majority of its part were covered by her knee-legth boots, along with some red armor. The only place her fair skin was visible was her arm, though arm guards covered it from elbow to wrist on both. Her blonde bangs were parted in the side, with one side clipped in order to keep it away from her eyes while long blonde locks hanged loosely on her back but was braided on the tip, so that it wouldn't became messy and tangled again. She always wore armor as a part of her everyday outfit, that way she wouldn't have to change everytime she spar with somebody (which happened quite often these days). At first it was just something she kept forgotting, but after 16 years it started to be a habit she never leave home without.

Walking out of the bathroom, she glanced to her left, placing her gaze at a red cape, hanging nicely on the wall. Green orbs stared at the cape, that cape was her dearest treasure. It was custom-made by aunt Sonja and given to her as her fifth birthday present by... No, she shouldn't think about it. It'd be a mess if tears fell.

The blonde went out downstairs and immediatly recognized the figure standing beside the kitchen table, preparing a breakfast for her. Her black, long hair tied up in a ponytail as usual. And, as usual too, it seems she's having trouble using the pan to make something Primrose thought was eggs, judging from the smell. "Good Morning, Mom."

Raynie turned to her back upon hearing the voice, returning the smile her daughter gave to her. "Morning."

Primrose walked to the kitchen table, standing beside her mother (almost equal at height now) and used the spoon to taste the eggs on the pan. Oh goddess. What _did_ she put in here? Without saying a word, the blonde picked up some condiment from the nearby table. Spicing the egg with various condiments, and turned the stove off, putting the egg on top of a plate and cut it into two while offering it to her mother.

Raynie accepted the breakfast, saying a small 'thank you' and put it on top of the table. She always messed foods up, usually it would be Stocke who saved the dish, but now even Primrose managed to prevent food from being wasted. Like father like daughter, she guess. "Are you going to visit Dad too, today?" Primrose started the conversation while she rummage through the cupboard to search for a fork. Now where is that little piece of-

"I have an audience with Queen Eruca this afternoon, I'll be there as soon as I can. Probably around midnight or so, though."

Ah, there's the accursed fork, finally. "Take your time, Mom. Doesn't like Dad's going anywhere else." Primrose sighed at the thought. _He's not going anywhere._ Yeah, there's no way somebody who had been half-dead for years can move around freely, No matter how frequently people visited him...

It all started on that day, that day where Dad was going away to Cygnus to attend an audience with King Garland. She still remembered how they waved him off at Alistel's city gates with a smile. Primrose had just managed to mastered G-Fire a day after his leave. Every night, the 9-year old waited for him to return. Expecting to be greeted with his soft smile. She never expected_ that._ She never expected to see the soldiers carrying his body into the clinic. She never expected to see the blood reddening his golden hair and Aunt Sonja frantically trying her best to prevent the worst. She never expected to hear the news of an unknown assasin who shot her father's head. She never expected to see her Dad's sleeping face, laying in Alistel's hospital bed, unmoving as if he was but a corpse. Though Sonja said there's still a chance for him to wake up, she had began to doubt it. It's been like, what, seven years if she remembered correctly? She's no longer that little girl, she's a grown woman now, at the age of 16. It's time for her to accept the reality shoved into her head. But, despite her own doubt, she and her mother always go and visited him once a week, because Raynie knew, deep down Primrose still believed her father would wake up.

Raynie's gentle touch brought her back to reality. Snapping out of her line of thought, Primrose quickly checked the clock. Crap, It's 8 already! She must have overslept! Mumbling 'Oh no', she stood up from her chair. "Be going, Mom! See you later!" She said and walked to the doorstep, quickly finishing her breakfast, waved off by Raynie, who only smiled softly at the direction of the door.

* * *

Alistel. A city where peace now reigns, a city who accepted any races, from satyros to gutrals, from granorgites to cygnans, with open arms. The streets weren't as crowded in the morning, but during the day, people came and go through it. Sometimes merchants, sometimes travelers, or just some people who visited the town for vacation. But, amidst the crowds, one red-clad girl just had to cut through and almost fell over a merchant's goods. Apologizing quickly, she stood up and began running again through the second ward towards Alistel Castle. Entering the lift and going up to the third floor. She leaned her hand to the wall, trying to adjust her breathing before walking over to the room on the right, a room she almost got bored of visiting; General Rosch's office.

She knocked twice at the wooden door, waiting for an answer, looking up at the door. After she heard a 'come in' from inside, the girl turned the doorknob and went into the room, closing the door behind her to face the Lion General, sitting in his desk full of paperwork with his son standing beside him. The white-haired general glanced up from his frustating work to the blonde, instantly getting what she came here for. The armored man gestured with his hand and whispered something to the other white-haired. Primrose couldn't catch more than a couple words, but whatever it was, the look on the boy's blushing face certainly doesn't look too good. The boy glared unamusedly at his father, whispering "I'm gonna get you later." A little too loud for the world to hear. Rosch only chuckled with a smirk on his face, shoving his elbow at the boy teasefully. The boy kept glaring while trying to hide his redden face, walking towards the door and out of the room.

Primrose stared at the boy confusedly, not even having to tilt her head up since they're about the same height. His armor had a similar colour with his father's, though rather than a full-body armor, his is more lighter and provides more agility. A scarf wrapped his neck and tied in the side, like a bandana. A piece of red cloth hangs around his waist, making a waistcoat on its own. He only stared back, cursing his short hair for not helping him hide his blush. "What?"

Primrose only smiled and went into the lift, followed with the white-haired behind her. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing."

"Really?" Primrose raised an eyebrow teasingly, oh, this is what made it amusing to tease her childhood friend. She just wanted to pinch that cute cheek but well, he'd be furious if she did that. "Hey, Chatwin..." Said Primrose, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah?" Chatwin replied, pushing the buttons in Alistel's lift and turned his head to look at the blonde.

"Want to spar after this?"

Chatwin stared back at Primrose, before he sighed and ruffled his messy and short white hair. "You know we have to greet_ him_ first, Prim." He made sure to emphasize the 'him' part with a lazy look once he thought about it. Oh Noah, today is not going to be a good day.

"Oh, come on... Do we really have to?" Primrose stared back with a look rivaling Chatwin's unwillingness. To be honest, she really wasn't willing to do this at all, if it wasn't for Chatwin's promise to treat her for a meal after this. She only came because Chatwin told him to, though she also accepted it unwillingly.

"He's your _cousin_, Prim." Chatwin walked out of the lift into Alistel hall. "And, unfortunately, A prince, on top of that."

"Then why are we the one who had to greet him into Alistel rather than your father or The Prime Minister?" Primrose started to raise her tone, facepalming herself softly. Oh, that cousin of hers. She doesn't even want to think about it too much. Aunt-er, Queen Eruca herself sometimes wondered where he got that arrogance of his. Yes, he still respects people and acted polite and kind... In his own way. But that obvious 'royalty' aura he had around him really made him stand out as a prince. Probably got that from his father, though. Eruca said she met her love when she visited Cornet village, and less than a year later Granorg finally got themselves a King. Oh, yes, King Heath is handsome and fabulous, all right, definitely got the same aura as his son, Aden.

"Because of what else but the fact that you're his cousin and Father told me to escort him? I'm a soldier too, Prim. If anybody's in charge of escorting that spoiled prince, who else would it be but the General's son?"

"Oh, come on..." The blond sighed, putting both her hands behind her head as she walked down to the second ward, glancing up to the sunny sky above. In a sunny and bright day like this, all she wanted to do was smile. Smile at the beauty of the sky and couldn't help but feel as if something's good gonna happen. Chatwin stopped in his tracks, observing the blonde behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing..." She answered, not taking her eyes off the azure sky. She was still enjoying the sky, when out of nowhere, something-a voice- just had to interrupt her. She almost glanced back down to told Chatwin to stop saying nonsense things, But no, if it was Chatwin who spoke to her just now, she'd knew. If it was Aden, she'd notice his arrogant tone. But she couldn't recognize it, whose voice was that? Who said that? _**Rise, Children of Historia,**_ What?_** Beat the foul beast, have thee fail, it shall feast... World's grim end will then released..-**_

_"Primrose!" _

The blonde snapped back into reality, widening her green eyes at the sight of the brown orbs in front of her. Chatwin put both his hands on her cheek and looked straight into her eyes, blocking the sunlight a bit, she noted. "Are you ok?" Chatwin asked, a slight hint of panic can be heard in his tone.

Primrose stared wide-eyed at the boy, was she daydreaming? In the middle if the road, on top of that! Great, way to go, Prim. "Yeah." She answered back, trying her best to pretend nothing had happened. She averted her eye contact with the boy and scanned her surroundings. It seems they had reached the first ward without her noticing. He should be right around here... Now where is that prince-

"Oh, my, it seems you're both having such a good time waiting for me."

Primrose turned her head over to the source of the sound, mentally facepalming herself for wondering. There he stood, the crown prince of Granorg-her cousin, Aden, along with two knights beside him, acting as his bodyguard. Crossing his arm and smirking mischievously, the prince put his weight on one leg, chuckling softly at his cousin's naivety. The prince wore a light blue long sleeved attire fit for a prince such as him, his cape flutter with the frequent breeze flowing through the air, jeez, really? A cape-on top of a long sleeve, in a sunny day like this? You're gonna sweat yourself to death, prince. Oh, wait. She guess she clearly doesn't had the right to complain about that, does she?

Aden kept staring at the two, occasionally played around with his hair, tied in a small ponytail behind his neck. Primrose only stared with confusion, what the hell does this prince mean?

While Primrose still stared at her cousin confusedly, Chatwin's cheek began to redden. Holy mother of Noah, does she really didn't realized he was touching both her cheek and their faces were only inches apart?! Stocke, even your daughter is legendary in naivety... The white-haired quickly pushed himself back, crossing his arm and tried to pretend nothing has happened. The blond prince only chuckled once more, amused with the sight his azure eyes saw. "Oh, Don't mind me, please conti-pfft-please continue." He teased, holding in a laugh with his hand as Chatwin's face began to flushed red even more.

The older averted his eyes from the prince, looking down at the cold stone below of Alistel's first ward._ "Shut up."_

Aden, still covering his mouth in an attempt to hold his laughter, took a deep breath and regained his composure. It has been a while since he last visited Alistel, meaning it has been a while since he last saw a scene as amusing as this. This was the first time he saw his cousin's_ boyfriend_ flushing red like that, though. What an amazing day to be alive. "Well," He gestured with his hand, ordering his two bodyguards to go. "Shall we go? I need to speak with Prime Minister Raul."

* * *

The sun had set and the moon had come by the time Primrose finally went out of Alistel Castle, Aden sure took his sweet time talking with the Prime Minister. But he's still a prince nonetheless. What he discussed with The Prime Minister wasn't trivial, it's a matter for both countries. Nowadays the Royal Family had been keeping their guard up, since the number of attempted assasination of either the Queen, King or Aden has been increasing drastically. In fact, Aden was here because he had told that to the Prime Minister himself, since the Queen and King had their own business to attend to. Aden stated that Alistel and its Prime Minister might as well be the next target, the last assasin was said to left a small piece of paper with a detailed map of Alistel castle written on it. To be honest, she's been worried about him since he said that even he had encountered two attempted assasination this month. Granorg and Alistel had only just came to peace, it's no wonder that rebels who disliked the coming of other races in their countries tried to annihilate the superiors of the country... Sometimes, even including ordinary people, who met the King and Queen on a weekly basis, like her father...

She shook her head, trying not to let the almost fallen tears from running down. What was she thinking? What she should focus on right now should be to escort the 13 year-old prince to the Inn, after that, she and Chatwin could finally go and eat. Come to think of it, she hadn't actually done anything today but escort-and fought, sometimes, with the Granorg prince. Chatwin better treat her for a meal, he just wasted her a whole day for something she thought would only lasted 5 minutes.

Just as she thought that, the blonde suddenly felt a pull on her hair. Turning to her back to find the culprit, she found the Granorg prince, a bit shorter than her but still pulled her golden locks in order to get her attention. His smirk was now gone, replaced with a pair of droppy azure eyes, staring right back at her green ones. "... Sleepy?" The older asked, slightly pulling her hair back from the young man's grasp. The prince only gave her a small nod, not saying another word. Primrose sighed, it seems no matter what, Aden is still a 13-year old, and having to discuss with the Prime Minister all day must be tiring. She glanced up, looking at the clock beside the entrance to Alistel's clinic. 11.30 pm, she still has time before Raynie returns, whereas she will then go visit her father together.

Aden, with his sleepy eyes glanced right and left, before tilting his head up slightly, asking the other blond. "Your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Primrose slightly hit the prince's head, though Aden himself couldn't processed what that was due to his tiredness. "He's going to the clinic to finish his chores. 'Said that he'd be back soon after." Aden only nodded slightly and yawned, indicating he couldn't guarantee he could stay awake much longer.

The two made their way through the first ward, enjoying the rare times the streets are quiet. Cold breeze made both their capes flutter in the wind, with Primrose making sure it wouldn't fly off while Aden wrapped his arm around, trying to warm himself up. He had never been away from home too long before, usually he'd just visit during the day, and came back when the sun started to set, he never knew such cold wind could blew in Alistel, He never left the palace at night, to be honest.

Inside the Inn, Aden's two bodyguards has been waiting outside his room door, ready to guard the room all night. Primrose waved at them (which they replied to soon after) and continued to follow the boy entering his room. Upon setting foot inside the room, the Prince didn't even bother to take his shoes or cape off, instead just plopped himself on the bed, burying his face on the pillow while hugging it and slept almost instantly. The red-clad blonde only sighed and smiled, taking the boy's boots off and carried him(quite an easy task for her, Aden was but a young boy without many muscles) to put him in an approriate sleeping position. Pulling a blanket all the way to his chin, Primrose stroked his blonde hair softly, taking his hair tie off and let his shoulder-legth hair left untied on the pillow. She never knew why, but even though she herself denied it, Aden looked like a brother in her eyes. They fought quite oftenly, but Primrose never found herself able to hate him sincerely. She doesn't know why, either. Maybe it's because they're blood-related...in some ways? Primrose shook the thought, she can't daydream all day-or night in here, she has other things to do. Oh, but really, who wouldn't want to stroke his hair when they saw his sleeping face? Made her glad he's her cousin-Oh no, did she just thought that? She facepalmed her forehead._** Curse you little fluffy prince and your trap for making me glad. **_She mentally cursed.

After saying goodbye to the bodyguards and told them to be on guard at all times, Primrose made her way back home in the second ward, checking if her mother was back or not. How right was she, Raynie had just stepped out of their house. The black haired woman scolded the blonde slightly for not coming back after night hours. But after all, she knew Aden visited today, Eruca just told her this afternoon. So she brushed it off and walked towards the clinic along with her daughter, who just stared up into the sky the whole journey, gazing at the stars glittering the night.

-whereas somebody else just had to interrupt her, this time its a footstep she heard coming from her right. Glancing down, she stared at the white creature, running high-speed towards the two. She squinted her eyes, oh wait, that's Chatwin. What's he doing...-?

The boy stopped right in front of the two, catching his breath as he panted heavily. Before any of the two women could ask, though, the boy lifted his head and look at both in the eyes.

"Uncle Stocke is waking up."


	2. Who are you calling Father?

_**A/N: I'm so, so, very sorry for the late update... The thing is, I'm still trying to establish the plot and such stuffs, which I am actually bad at... I'll try my best, though! And, well... After the messy first chapters, I decided to practice writing a bit and get into reading fanfics again, which is why I've been writing my other fic, Deity of the Tetraforce, for practice. Anyway! I'd like to thank HarmonyBenderFreak, jikanet-tanaka, and Rapscaz for reviewing the last chapter and supporting me! Now, without further ado, please enjoy.**_

* * *

_You're kidding._

She couldn't believe what she just heard. Quit deceiving her, ear! But if it was real, why? How? The red-clad stared at the white-headed dumbfoundedly, still in shock of the words that had just left the boy's lips, who was still catching his breath after a good run through the hallway of Alistel clinic.

She didn't take a second glance to see her mother, she's sure Raynie's reaction was pretty much the same as her, anyway. Instead, without commanded, her legs began to move-she didn't knew where, just run. Run to wherever it was she wanted to go-she couldn't remember. Blank and emptiness filled her mind, all she could think was one thing; one person she hadn't seen for the last 7 years-not technically, since she visited him once a week, but still... She couldn't comprehend what exactly was she thinking, or feeling, for that matter. She didn't know. Was she happy? Relieved? Frantic? Panic? Shocked? She didn't care, nothing came to her mind as she continued to ran past in the direction of the clinic, not caring about some people (who were somehow still awake at this hour) who she accidentally bumped into in the way nor the freezing night breeze, flowing through her long, blonde hair and made her cape fluttered. All she had in her mind was him, nothing else.

The blonde stopped (almost slipping on the way) right in front of the clinic's door, leaning her hand into the door's edge and started to catch her breath from the sudden fatigue she felt-probably one she didn't notice before. Still out of breath, she forced her muscles to lift her head up to see, at the very least. Was Chatwin lying, or was that true? It's time to see the truth with her own two eyes, if he's lying, then... He guess uncle Rosch need to dig a grave tomorrow.

Her look contained those with uncertainity and anxious, she could tell. But she didn't care, and instead tried to gather what was going on in the scene before her. Huh, she could only see half of it, the rest were just bright yellow in her line of sight-wait, it's her hair again, isn't it? Mentally cursing it, Primrose stood up from her position, moving her bangs away from her view. She wanted to see clearly what was happening, and nothing is stopping her from doing so, not even the sound of footsteps coming from her right. Not even bothering to turn her head, she quickly scanned the room-there were at least 3 people inside, one of which she didn't knew-a little satyros girl, perhaps just a few years younger than aunt Aht, with green hair and, from what she assumed, was Sonja's assistant, and the thaumatech fangirl herself, standing right in front of the bed laying in the corner of the room. And another one... The blond-haired sitting on the said bed, though she couldn't see their face clearly due to Sonja obscuring her view. Sonja, finally realizing her son had called the person she told him to fetch, turned her head to see the red-clad in the doorway. That's right; she got no time to cry out of happiness, the awake man needs to see his family, first of all, so she walked a fe steps to the side, letting both blondes take a good look at each other's face.

Bright green eyes widened upon seeing the pair of pale blue orbs. She couldn't believe it; Chatwin wasn't lying. It's him. Up and was now sitting on top of the bed, staring with shocked eyes right back at her also shocked stare. A few blink, the red-clad was making sure she wasn't dreaming. No, she must be dreaming, she must be. This was a dream... She couldn't believe it. He's awake. He's there._ Her Father's awake. _

The blonde couldn't keep it in anymore. Her vision started to get blurry, and her legs suddenly felt as if they were made of jelly. A small smile made its way to her face cringingly as tears started to roll down her fine, white cheek. Noah, you've got to be kidding her. If this was not a dream, then what is it? She couldn't bear to stand anymore, it was as if any and all sorts of energy she had in her legs were sapped away in an instant, making her fell to her knees, still locking her gaze at the other blond's.

"...Dad..." She's been waiting to finally be able to say that again. It touched her tongue slightly-how long has it been since she last said it on his face? No matter how long it was, it felt like an eternity for her. The sobs growing inside of her couldn't be kept in anymore, the usually-cheerful red-clad began to let out soft sobs, putting both her hands on her face in order to muffle her cry, even just a little bit.

Behind her, Chatwin had just arrived, along with the black-haired. The white-headed quickly noticed his friend, slumped on the floor. At first, panic began to seeped in, but it quickly dissappear once he laid eyes on the shocked blond on top of the bed. It all makes sense-to him, at least. She needed her time, and that's exactly what he's doing. Bending down on one knee and put both hands on her shoulder, hoping it was enough to calm the blonde-and himself, down. He couldn't believe it either. Uncle Stocke was awake. He's there, alive and breathing, not just a piece of body laying unmoving on the bed for years. If it wasn't hard to believe, he doesn't know what is.

Raynie's reaction didn't differ much than with her daughter's, seeing how she also widened her eyes in shock before began to tear up. But, instead of crying on the floor like Primrose, she ran straight to the bed, saying her husband's name over and over, as if it would helped her in believing he was there. He was there alright. If he's not, her hand would went through when she touched his cheek. She knew this feeling, she knew this longing, anxious, relieved and happy feeling. It was the feeling she felt when he came back, when he met her in front of the bulleting board of Alistel's tavern. It was just like back then; he dissappeared, only to come back. It's him.

"...Raynie." She couldn't kept her tears in any longer the moment she heard those words left his lips, accompanied with that same warm, welcoming smile. This was a dream, right? If it isn't, then what is? She didn't know anymore, she didn't care about any other thing. All she cared about was to make sure he was there; to have him in her arms again. She didn't care if her tears made his black t-shirt wet, all she cared was that he's here. He's there in her arms, hugging her back. He's there, he's back.

Although, Raynie couldn't help but notice the confused look she saw in his face the moment he laid eyes on Primrose. It was the face he made when he first met Eruca, or anybody, for that matter-a face he made when he met a stranger. Why is he making that face, she wondered?

On the other hand, Stocke's eyes didn't show any form of recognition upon seeing the two teenagers, slumped down on the floor of the doorway. He...actually couldn't say he remembered ever meeting any of the two. Who were they? Why was the girl crying when she laid eyes on him? What happened? He... Couldn't remember. He was just seconds after waking up from a sleep he didn't remember ever taking, and now Raynie, Sonja and those two were crying. The hero of the land was confused, what was happening this whole time? He couldn't remember what happened. He couldn't remember why he was laying on Alistel's clinic's bed. He didn't know why.

Until he heard that word left the red-clad girl's lips again.

_"...Dad"_

...What?

Dad? You've got to be kidding. He never remembered ever having a daughter that old. That's impossible...right? How long did he slept? He always slept 8 hours, tops. There's no way his 9-year old little daughter would grow ... At least 5 years older than when he last saw her. What in the world happened?

And then it just hit him like a ton of thaumatons; he was sleeping for years, he realized. He remembered why he was here, though at the same time he did not. All he remembered was that he was almost at Cygnus's city gates when suddenly pain began to seeped in-after that, there was nothing else but black. But, according to his knowledge, there were some cases where people 'slept' for years since their brain was technically 'dead'. There's no way that was what happened, right? He didn't just... Left his family for years, did he? Please tell him this wasn't real. Please tell him the woman standing before him wasn't his little daighter from before.

"...Dad?" Nonetheless, he had to confirm the facts once and for all, doesn't he?

All eyes in the room widened and took its gaze to see the blond man sitting on the bed, while the said man only raised an eyebrow questioningly, clearly confused as to what was going on. Silence began to fill the room-which, to be honest, only made him became even more curious. What was going on?

"... Chatwin." Sonja finally spoke, breaking the silence after seeing the confused look in Stocke's eyes. "Bring Primrose outside, you too, Lani. We just need some time to...talk." The brunette gestured with her hand for both her son and assistant, who she called Lani, to go outside. At first, Primrose shoved the white-headed's hand forcefully away from her, but eventually realized that her father needed some time to let it all sink in, and accepted the young man's offered hand, somewhat hesitantly and went outside.

* * *

The night breeze of Alistel were still going on, she see. She didn't notice it before, but now that she had taken the cold wind into account, she now regretted for only wearing a tank top under her cape. It was so cold, she could even see her own breath in the air! Alright, now she really hoped she wore something warmer on the way here. Her sweat didn't help, either. It just made her felt colder. The blonde wrapped herself with both arms while also staring down at the earth, trying to take her mind off things. Did Father really...didn't remember her? Or didn't recognize her? Was she...forgotten? No, she didn't want to think about it. After all, he must be shocked to see her all grown up like this...he's just shocked, that's all...she hoped.

Her train of thought were cut short upon feeling a warm material-probably a piece of cloth touching her bare skin and around her shoulder. She turned her head, only to see who the culprit was-Chatwin, putting the piece of red (almost magenta) cloth he usually hung around his waist as a waistcape on top of her shoulders, clearly recognizing her cold shaking figure. The white-headed's cheek suddenly flushed bright red once he realized she was staring at him, but then quickly moved his gaze to the side, averting the green orbs' gaze. "...I-It's cold tonight..."

He only flinched when he started to move his gaze back, hoping Primrose had stopped staring-when she clearly hadn't. The general's son quickly withdrew his hands from her shoulders. "You can keep it. Doesn't like I really need it, anyways." His outfit were warm enough, if not too much. Removing a waistcape-or armor or two wouldn't make much difference.

Primrose only giggled. Yes, she liked it when he acted like that (not that she knew why), but she was honestly grateful for him to brought her back to reality. She didn't want to think about it much, she just want to believe that everything will be back for normal. And that's where she wanted to stop thinking about that. The blonde walked a bit from where she was-in front of the clinic's front entrance, to the stairs leading to the second ward, and sat down on one of the staircase, followed by Chatwin, who sat down beside her. Both didn't say a word, and instead sealed their lips shut, enjoying the breeze flowing through their hair and capes.

She tried not to think about it by gazing at the moon, believe her, she tried. But her mind got the best of her and decided to thought deep about it_ like a boss_. What if father really didn't remember her? What if he treated her as a stranger? What if-

"Primrose."

The red-clad flinched upon the touch from the cold, armored hand her friend had. It seems her face didn't hide much of her anxiety and hesitancy, since his face were filled with slight worry. "It'll be okay."

His smile somewhat brought comfort to her. He's right, she just had to believe it'd be okay. It will be okay. Everything will be back to normal...just like how it was back then. It'll be ok. "...Thanks, Chatwin." Said Primrose, leaning her head to the side and to the young man's shoulders-with an innocent, unknowing look while Chatwin flushed bright red once again, wondering how much naivety was needed for her not to notice this. Well, not that he could blame her, though. She'd been through quite a lot, she must be pretty tired. So, instead of shoving her away with an annoyed look like what he usually did, he just let her head stay where it was as he tried his best to keep his blush in.

Chatwin had always been feeling this way when he was near her, really, he actually got no idea why. But he just want it to stay this way-forever, if possible. Which is why he could pretty much emphatize with her even more. He could imagine how it was to be her, to have those you love to dissappear, to (may never) meet them again. Sure, he never experienced it, thankfully. But his imagination let him know what it felt like to be her. Chatwin was actually pretty tired too, right after escorting that prince, he had to ran back to his mother's clinic, only to be sent away to fetch her again. Lovely. Tiredly, the white-headed slowly-and cringingly leaned his head on top of the blonde's... She won't mind, right? She would know that he's tired to-

"Oh, my, did I interrupt something?"

Chatwin quickly snapped his head away from Primrose's before turning his head to see the source of the sound with an annoyed face. Who dare teased him like that?-...wait. It's his mother, isn't it. Chatwin mentally facepalmed himself. Great. What now? And speaking of interrupting-why didn't Primrose say something? Before doing anything else, his top priority were now to shook her to see her reaction, only to find out, after a few shakes and name-calling, the blonde were fast asleep. Ugh, great. She fell asleep leaning to his shoulder. Lovely.

Chatwin sighed as he turned to see his mother again. "Where's aunt Raynie?"

"She's asleep down in the clinic. Best not to wake her up." The reason for that were something she'd like to sum up into 'it's too amusing'. Really, who'd want to wake somebody who had curled and snuggled up beside her husband, fast asleep? Not her, at least. Even Stocke didn't do anything about it and instead just kissed her a goodnight and drifted off to sleep himself. At first, he couldn't believe he was in a coma for, what, 7 years? As a matter of fact, no one would, at least none that she had ever treated. But seeing how Stocke is, he's probably off thinking on the bed right now, stroking Raynie's long hair, Sonja guessed. Those two lovebirds need to pipe down, if not her clinic might burn from her exploding (fangirling) over those two. Sonja walked a few steps forward to see the two _other_ lovebirds.

"Is she asleep?" She bent down a bit, trying to get a better look at her son's childhood crush.

"Yeah." Chatwin tried to ignore his mother's fangirling side and gazed up at the moon. He guess it's full moon today, and, he got to admit... It's quite beautiful. The moonlight shone above their heads, shining the town with a calming aura. He always loved the moon-beside the reason Primrose always said his hair reminded her of the snow, and, at times, the moonlight. Sometimes, it made his attempt to hide from his chores at the clinic failed, since his mother could spotted him right away, but it's still beautiful nonetheless. Especially with stars acting as lanterns, accompanying it shining the night sky above. "...Mom?"

"Yes?"

"...Neither you or Dad are going away...right?" That's it. Finally he could speak what was in his mind for a long time. He had to be honest; he's scared. He's scared that the same thing could happen to him and his family, that one of them would go away and dissappear, just like Uncle Stocke. Yes, he did return, but that doesn't mean his parents will if they go. He...don't want it to happen. He don't want anybody to go away, including Primrose. He liked his boring, everyday life, and hoped it would continue on forever after.

Sonja smiled at her son's thoughtful thinking. She knew he always had a bit too much imagination, and that he was always scared that the thing that happened to Primrose would happen to him too. The brunetted stood up, walking to the other side of the stairs and sat beside the white-headed. "Chatwin..." She kept smiling as she put a hand on top of his also armored hand. "Nothing will remain forever, just like how none of us are perfect."

"Everybody has their own favorite time they don't want to let go and treasured, be it a boring everyday life, or a specific time that will certainly not last forever." Sonja continued. "Which is why, when that time's still here, we have to enjoy it, not regret or grieve over the past, or even waste it. As long as it's still here, enjoy it. Nothing will last forever...except memories you treasure within your heart."

Chatwin listened thoughtfully. Her mother always had the answer for whatever it was he asked, and it somehow comforted him too. It sadden him to know-and realize that nothing will last forever. He knew that particular fact, he knew. But, at times, still doesn't want to believe it. A smile made its way to his lips. "...Thanks, Mom."

Sonja only replied with a smile. "Come on, now. Let's bring that girl back to her home."

* * *

_**A/N: and basically that was just Sonja's words of wisdom I had taken straight from my mom, heheh. (Yes, I...actually asked her the same thing). And, where did Lani go? She went home straight away, it seems, leaving the two lovebirds alone. And welcome to the Stocke/Raynie or beltshipping community, Sonja.**_


End file.
